Why Cloud Adoption Is Still So Low In Public Sector?

The public sector is missing out on the benefits of cloud because staff are unsure about the technology. A study by cloud collaboration software firm Huddle and Dods Research has shown how fear and ignorance over cloud computing is holding back its adoption. In UK for example, the study finds, cloud technologies could go some way to helping the government achieve £13 billion of public sector savings.

Despite the gains, more than half of respondents simply saw no benefit of cloud computing. And just 35% of public sector staff are comfortable using cloud IT – this low figure is mainly due to concerns over its security, the time and effort required to move to cloud platforms and the lack of expertise to implement them.

Meanwhile, 95% of public sector workers share and work on information with external organisations but 43% prefer to send hard copies of documents through the post and 27% use couriers. Not only does this present data security issues, but it also introduces excessive costs. Such slow and inefficient sharing of information is the antithesis of modern collaboration, says Huddle.

Their antipathy towards cloud technology is undermining efforts to achieve billions of pounds of departmental savings headlined in the Conservative manifesto before the party came to power. The savings will come from cuts to spending, alongside productivity gains – which can be achieved by departments adopting a ‘Cloud First’ strategy, according to the study.

“Our natural contention is that the heart to improved productivity is the ability to effectively collaborate, both internally and externally. At the root of this capability is a cloud-led infrastructure, and the flexibility and mobility that come with it,” said Huddle.

The situation is the same everywhere. In India too, Cloud services are likely to face stiff challenges pertaining to data security, vendor lock-in period and less availability of quality IT hardware infrastructure in India. According to a recent report by Research & Markets, the greater challenges would come from the semi-urban regions across the country.

While private cloud adoption is largely restricted to large enterprises in present times, due to the fact that higher initial investment discourages SMEs to opt for private cloud deployment, public cloud adoption is plagued by data security and reliability issues due to which hybrid cloud has been gaining traction in India.

The report also throws light on key roadblocks that restrict the growth of overall cloud services in India such as growing concerns over data security, reliability and surveillance. In addition, dearth of quality IT infrastructure further hampers widespread adoption of cloud services in the country.

Huddle believes, the government’s efforts to build awareness of and confidence in cloud technology are crucial to its adoption.

Some believe while we harp on the Digital India dream, it is a fact that the average Broadband speed here is less than half of the global average and peak speeds. More so, cloud adoption in the public sector is still dotted with challenge.

On a positive note, the coming months are likely to show better adoption in this area. A recently released TechSci Research report reveals that the growing adoption of cloud technologies in SMEs and government agencies in India will drive the demand for cloud services in India.

Increased government spending on National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) and various e-governance portals, coupled with growing acceptance of cloud services in SME segment is expected to drive the market for cloud computing, says the research firm, which Research & Markets pegs the market for cloud computing services in India is projected to grow at a CAGR of over 22 percent during 2015-2020.

Moreover, the government’s ambitious program to make India a truly digital nation, by offering a plethora of e-governance services across sectors like healthcare, education and banking which enables companies like Microsoft and AWS to focus on India may change the fate of cloud adoption in the coming quarters.

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